


17 Down, 15 & 23 Across

by waffles_007



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Boston Bruins, Established Relationship, M/M, Sexual Content, eventual domesticity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-25
Updated: 2017-11-25
Packaged: 2019-02-06 20:36:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12825576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/waffles_007/pseuds/waffles_007
Summary: Riley’s been looking forward to the second weekend in November ever since he received the new schedule prior to training camp: it’s when the Bruins play the Leafs and it’ll also be the first time he’s gotten to see Dom, in person, since Dom relocated to Toronto over the summer after signing a one-year deal. It had been hard, when Dom initially told Riley he wasn’t going to be resigned by the Bruins, and harder still when Dom had later told Riley he was headed to Toronto instead of somewhere closer like New York, Pittsburg, or even Buffalo. But, in reality, no matter where Dom signed, unless it was with the Bruins, it would be too far in Riley’s opinion.However, when Riley thinks about it, there are some benefits to Toronto at least: they’re in the same conference, same division too, so that means at least four times he’s guaranteed to see Dom during the season. Toronto is also less than a two-hour flight from Boston, so, provided the Leafs and the Bruins have a couple similar gaps in between games, there’s a few more opportunities to visit with one another. Plus, there’s always Christmas. Riley quickly bumps their schedules up against each other and marks down a few tentative visit dates on the calendar as well.





	17 Down, 15 & 23 Across

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bookhousegirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookhousegirl/gifts).



> Ever since I found out both Dom and Riley share a mutual fondness for crosswords, (thanks BtB) I've thought it was the cutest thing ever and could be a great plot device for getting them together. This isn't an exact continuation of my original foray in to this ship, 39 Across, there's a few little differences in the first kiss etc. but can easily be assumed it's in the same verse.
> 
> A special thank you to @darkangel0410 for listening to me yell about this even though she doesn't ship it.
> 
> This fic is for bookhousegirl who ships these guys as hard as I do and as a thank you for listening to me yell about other ships that might not be her thing :)

Riley’s been looking forward to the second weekend in November ever since he received the new schedule prior to training camp: it’s when the Bruins play the Leafs and it’ll also be the first time he’s gotten to see Dom, in person, since Dom relocated to Toronto over the summer after signing a one-year deal. It had been hard, when Dom initially told Riley he wasn’t going to be resigned by the Bruins, and harder still when Dom had later told Riley he was headed to Toronto instead of somewhere closer like New York, Pittsburg, or even Buffalo. But, in reality, no matter where Dom signed, unless it was with the Bruins, it would be too far in Riley’s opinion.

However, when Riley thinks about it, there are some benefits to Toronto at least: they’re in the same conference, same division too, so that means at least four times he’s guaranteed to see Dom during the season. Toronto is also less than a two-hour flight from Boston, so, provided the Leafs and the Bruins have a couple similar gaps in between games, there’s a few more opportunities to visit with one another. Plus, there’s always Christmas. Riley quickly bumps their schedules up against each other and marks down a few tentative visit dates on the calendar as well.

~

_November 10 th _

They don’t really get to spend much time together when Boston travels up to Toronto on November 10th for the first game of their home and home; the Bruins fly out immediately following the 2-3 loss. But, at least they’re afforded a quick reunion outside of the Leafs locker room prior to the game that consists of tight hugs and few desperate kisses before fist bumps and ‘good game’ wishes. They know they’ll have time once they get back to Boston.

~

_November 11 th – 13th  _

“I’m sorry.” Dom wraps his hand around the back of Riley’s neck and pulls him in for a sweet ‘hello’ kiss when Dom lets himself in to their Charlestown place after the game.

Riley shrugs, it’s not Dom’s fault Boston dropped both games and he tells him that, leaning in for one more kiss before taking Dom’s overnight bag and dropping it at the end of the couch.

“I hope you’re not making me sleep there.” Dom jokes, pointing to the sofa, the one he and Riley picked out at the beginning of the summer, before Dom found out he wasn’t being resigned.

Riley laughs. “Of course not.” Riley fondly smacks Dom on the ass. “I missed you.” Riley adds after a second with a wistful smile, wrapping his arms around Dom and holding him close, resting his cheek along the side of Dom’s head, breathing in the freshly showered scent that clings to Dom’s skin in such a familiar way.

“Me too.” Dom agrees, tightening his arms around Riley for a moment before sliding his hand down to Riley’s lower back, and down further, over the swell of Riley’s ass. “Missed this too.” Dom chuckles and gives Riley a squeeze.

“Frisky!” Riley chides and pulls back a bit but doesn’t let go, leaving his hands clasped behind Dom’s back where they rest at the waistband of Dom’s suit pants.

“You too tired to…” Dom trails off, cocking his head towards the staircase.

Riley shakes his head no. Of course, he’s a little drained from the game, but it’s not nearly enough to dampen the anticipation that’s been building since earlier in the evening. Riley’s next game isn’t until Wednesday, in Anaheim, and Dom’s isn’t until Thursday, back home in Toronto, so, even though they just played, and Dom’s able to stick around until Monday, and Riley’s bound and determined to make good use of every single moment he can. It’s been nearly two months since they’ve seen each other so even if Riley was using toothpicks to prop his eyes open, he’d still lie and say he wasn’t tired. “C’mon.”  

Dom lets Riley take his hand and guide him up to their bedroom, only stopping Riley once, half-way up the staircase, for a kiss that’s deep and urgent and full of promise, wickedly rubbing up against Riley’s thigh to let him know just how much he’s missed him. Once inside the bedroom, rather than taking their time, slowly undressing each other and carefully reacquainting themselves with every inch of exposing skin, they strip themselves efficiently, leaving their game-day suits in a pile, and fall on to the bed in a tangle of limbs.

Dom rolls Riley on to his back, brackets Riley’s shoulders with his forearms when he blankets Riley’s body with his own, and he looks down, taking in the pink flush that’s spreading across Riley’s cheeks and working its way down Riley’s neckline. “Beautiful.” Dom murmurs and leans in laying a long trail of kisses from Riley’s lips, down to his chin, and along his jawline all the way up to his ear where he gently sucks the lobe in drawing a groan from Riley. “Missed this. Missed _you_.” Dom can feel Riley nodding in agreement.

They fall asleep, an hour or so later, spent and sated, their aches from the game replaced with better, more satisfying aches settling in to their bones.

~

They go out the following morning for breakfast, over to the Grasshopper Café on Bunker Hill Street, after trading lazy Sunday handys under the sheets followed by a shared hot shower to wash away the sleep and the sweat and the lingering aches.

“Oh my God.” Dom groans around a mouthful of ridiculously loaded home fries, savoring the bacon cheese sauce, the salsa, and the smooth richness of the guacamole as it all melts deliciously in his mouth around the perfectly crispy potatoes. “They do _not_ have anything close to this in Toronto.” Dom shovels another forkful in to his mouth as Riley raises an eyebrow at him across the table, over his veggie egg white omelet. “Don’t look at me like that.” Dom comments. “You’ve got a pile of sausage just waiting for you to dig in to.”

“Turkey sausage.” Riley corrects.

Dom laughs and takes a sip of coffee. “Well, kudos to you to sticking to your diet plan—mostly.” He adds with a grin pointing to the oversized homemade blueberry muffin and pads of real butter sitting off to the side of Riley’s breakfast. “I’m not playing again for another four days. Plus, really, at thirty-seven? Screw my diet plan.”

Riley laughs. “I suppose. You don’t have Julie keeping an eye on you anymore.”

“That too.” Dom joins Riley in the shared moment remembering the team nutritionists’ vigilant efforts to keep the players diets in line. “But I’ve got Jenn instead—she’s a little less demanding—the team’s so young, they’re all brought up on this shit now, ‘eat right, eat healthy’. If she knew about me and Pat’s late-night pizza runs, she’d flip.”

Riley feigns a look of horror at the mention of late night pizza; it’s something Dom used to do when he was in Boston, telling Riley he’d be back in a few, returning within half an hour with a couple of slices from the North End. He didn’t really do it all that often, but every time he did, he swore Riley to secrecy under penalty of revealing Riley’s soft spot for some good cannoli to Julie. Riley never breathed a word of it to anyone. 

~

After breakfast, they make the mile walk down Bunker Hill Street and under Route 1 over to the harbor— ‘to burn off a little of breakfast’ Riley states— but really so Dom can see the ocean again. It’s breezy, November in Boston near the water always is, and the wind carries a small bite to it, the chill of late fall a damp reminder of what’s coming.

Dom rests his arms on the wrought iron railing that separates the paved walking path from the short drop in to the bay and he looks out over the ocean, watching the moored ships bobbing up and down in time with the gentle waves. “Toronto is so different. You’ve got Lake Ontario, but it’s nothing like the ocean.” Dom looks straight ahead as he talks. “I miss the ocean.”

Riley agrees, lakes are nothing like oceans—where he grew up, in Alberta, the closest large body of water that was worth anything was Lake Claire all the way up near the Northwest Territories or Lake Winnipeg out east in Manitoba. He enjoyed being near Cayuga Lake when he was at Cornell, but when he got to Carolina and later to Boston, he fell in love with the Atlantic and the way the salty mist stuck in his nostrils when the waves broke over the shoreline. “It’s so vast.”

“It’s only been, what? Two, three months since I’ve been up there?” Dom keeps looking out over the ocean as he speaks. “And yeah, Toronto’s home, in a way—growing up somewhere will do that to you—and I get to play, one more year—but here?” Dom waves his hand over the grey-blue water, “this is home. The ocean, Charlestown, Boston,” Dom turns his head to face Riley, “you. You’re home to me, and I miss that.”

“Dom,” Riley starts, running his hand gently down the arm of Dom’s coat, “I miss you too, so much.”

They’ve only been together for a year, since Dom came to Boston at the start of the last season, but they hit it off immediately, bonding over ivy league schools and their mutual love of crossword puzzles among other things. Even though there’s a nine-year age difference, to Dom and Riley it’s non-existent, a non-factor, not even worth mentioning and it was only natural that very shortly in to the season their fast friendship grew in to something more.

“I wish the Bruins…” Dom trails off, not needing to finish his thought, they both know it ends with ‘had resigned me’.

“Me too.” Riley pulls Dom in to a tight hug, blocking the wind as he turns his back on the ocean. “Me too.”

~

Dom’s quiet on the way the back to their place, lost in thoughts of what if and why not, fingers laced together with Riley’s as they walk hand in hand through the historical streets of Charlestown.  

It’s a laid-back afternoon, just enjoying each other’s company, catching up, Dom’s mood lightening gradually over the course of a few hours till the smile that Riley loves so much is back on Dom’s face. They fall asleep completely worn out and sated again, arms wrapped around each other, legs tangled together after Dom slid in to Riley and fucked him slowly for what seemed like hours.

Riley drives Dom to Logan the next morning, after breakfast and one last time together, making plans for Riley to visit in December—the Bruins have a few days off near the beginning of the month.

“I hate leaving.” Dom mumbles in to Riley’s neck when Riley pulls in to the passenger drop-off lane in terminal B.

“I know, I hate that you have to.” Riley answers, resting his forehead against Dom’s for a moment before tilting his head and kissing Dom goodbye. “It’s only for a few weeks though.” He adds, pulling back and checking his watch. “You have to go—you’ll miss your flight.”

Dom resigns himself to the inevitable, planes don’t wait and he needs to get back to Toronto, back to the Leafs and his life for the next year. “See you soon.” Dom leans over the gear shift and gives Riley one more kiss before grabbing his bag from the back seat and disappearing through the revolving doors.

Riley sits for a moment, head tipped back against the headrest, listening to the rhythmic tick-tick-tick of his hazards. Twenty-seven days, less than a month, and he’ll see Dom again. This is harder than he thought it’d be.

~

_November, 22 nd _

“What’d you get for 17 across?” Dom’s face is somewhat grainy due to the dim light in the hotel room as he skypes from Florida to where Riley’s sitting in a similar hotel room in New Jersey.

Riley scans the USA Today crossword for a moment before answering, “aqueduct.”

“Yes!”

Riley watches as Dom scribbles in the letters in his copy of the paper.

“I had the biggest brain cramp on that one!” Dom admits, in his defense, the only letters the other clues had helped fill in were the ‘u’ and the ‘c’. It was the only clue he couldn’t work out before the game.

“And you call yourself a Harvard man.” Riley chides, chuckling and showing Dom his completed crossword. “Got every single one of them. You know what that means.” Riley says with a grin and a wiggle of his eyebrows.

“Oh my God, really?” Dom asks. “You’re really going to make me do this?”

“Rules are rules, Dom.” Riley answers, laughing.

It’s something that started when Dom was in Boston—they’d each do the USA Today crossword independently over room service, when the paper was dropped in front of their hotel doors on the road and, on the off chance one of them got stuck and had to ask for help, they owed the other any favor of their choice; provided the other finished the crossword without needing any help of their own. In the past, payment had been given in the form of back rubs, handys, blow jobs, and occasionally, Riley’s favorite, mostly because it made Dom blush something fierce—something Riley will never tire of—a strip tease.

“Fine.” Dom lets out an exaggerated sigh and throws his hands up in the air dramatically. “If we still had roommates I’d be spared.” He gripes fondly.

“But,” Riley counters, “we don’t, so…”

Dom stands up, tilts the screen of his laptop back a little so it captures more of the room, checking that Riley can still see—he can—before slowly undoing the buttons at the cuffs of his dress shirt. His tie is next, his fingers wrapping around the knot, wiggling it back and forth a little, loosening it up before sliding the silky fabric out from under his collar and he twirls it around a few times, causing Riley to laugh and roll his eyes.

“That’s pretty sexy, Dom.”

“I know.” Dom winks and drops the tie on the floor. He starts unbuttoning his dress shirt, slowly pushing the tiny plastic buttons out from their holes, spreading the sides of his shirt, revealing the dark salt and pepper hair that covers his pecs before shimmying his shoulders and letting the garment slide down his arms to join his tie.

Dom is having fun, despite the slight pink tinge that’s spreading across his cheeks as he undresses. It’s nowhere near as embarrassing as it had been the first time Riley had requested it when they were in some hotel room somewhere in California. However, Dom still feels a little awkward peeling off his clothes in front of his laptop, even if it is Riley looking back from so many miles away.

Dom toes his shoes off next, sending them clattering off to rest somewhere near the door to the room, and he balances on one foot, then the next, pulling his socks off. “Socks just aren’t sexy.” He comments as he tosses them casually over towards the laptop.

“Says you.” Riley answers with a laugh.

His belt comes next, sliding the leather out from the confines of the buckle, the small metal tab coming free from its hole. Dom rolls his hips as he pulls his belt from the belt loops, slowly, teasingly, and he twirls it like he’d twirled his tie before it too joins the clothing on the floor.

“Turn around.” Riley’s voice emanates from the small speakers, “let me see that ass of yours.”

Dom raises an eyebrow and chuckles, turning around and bending over slightly, hands on his hips as he shakes his behind. “Like the view, babe?” Dom looks back over his shoulder and grins.

“Yeah—” Riley answers, and Dom notices a tiny hitch in Riley’s voice when he speaks.

“Are you--?” Dom starts, turning around and leaning in for a moment to take in Riley’s expression. Riley’s lips are parted just a tiny bit and there’s a small flush starting across the tops of his cheeks. Dom knows that look. He _loves_ that look. “You are—aren’t you.”

Riley nods and bites his lower lip. “Keep going.”

The strip tease suddenly isn’t quite as silly anymore, now that Dom realizes that Riley’s sitting in New Jersey, slowly stroking himself while watching him.

“That feel good, babe?” Dom asks as he runs his palm down over the front of his dress pants, feeling himself plumping up after a few strokes.

“Yeah—"

Dom pops the button on his dress pants, licks his lips before gripping the small metal tab of his zipper, and pulls, letting each tooth release, one after the other until the zipper is at the bottom and Dom’s spreading the fly of his pants open so Riley can see his arousal underneath. Dom strokes his hand over his cock again, the thin fabric of his briefs rubbing against his erection and he groans a little when he presses his thumb against his crown.

He locks his gaze on Riley, watching the measured up and down movement of Riley’s right arm, slow, rhythmic strokes, punctuated by small gasps every so often when Dom knows Riley’s dragging his fingers over the head. “That’s so hot.” Dom comments and Riley blushes, his arm stuttering for just a split second.

Dom turns his attention back to undressing, pushing his pants down over strong thighs, stepping out, leg by leg and kicking the dress pants out of sight. He hooks his thumbs in to the waistband of his briefs, teases his fingers under the elastic before pulling down the front and allowing his cock to spring free. Dom slides the briefs down slowly, letting them settle around his thighs as he wraps his fingers around his cock and strokes a few times, bringing himself fully hard before doing anything else.

“Dom…” Riley breathes out Dom’s name, his hand speeding up a little when he sees Dom stroking himself.

They feed off each other, Dom’s fist loose at first, fingers sweeping over the head, the slide getting easier as his cock leaks with arousal. Riley watches Dom’s hand, matches the pace, matches the movements of Dom’s fingers and a low fire starts in the pit of his stomach. “Wish this was you.” Riley whispers, just loud enough that Dom can hear him through the small speakers.

“Me too.” Dom replies, twisting his wrist and gasping at the sensation. “I miss you so much.”

Riley draws in a shaky breath, rubbing his thumb over his slit, smoothing the pre-come around in circles over the head. “Come closer, please.”

Dom follows Riley’s suggestion, dropping his briefs to the floor and stepping out of them before coming back over to the laptop and sitting down, readjusting the screen so it’s back on his face, just like Riley’s. “You look so—” Dom starts, trailing off as he reaches down and rolls his balls in his hand.

“So do you—” Riley answers, biting his lower lip when the low fire flares suddenly, “Dom, I’m so—”

“Me too—” Dom feels his balls tightening, drawing up and a small tingle starts at the base of his spine.

Dom watches as Riley’s face changes; his eyebrows draw together and his mouth drops open, the pink on Riley’s cheeks deepening, and Riley shudders and lets out a moan. Dom follows a second later, closing his eyes and gasping before letting out a low groan as he comes warm and wet over his fist.

They come down together, silently catching their breath as they look softly at each other through the tiny cameras on their laptops.

“Three more weeks.” Riley says finally.

“Not soon enough.” Dom answers.

~

_December 10 th – 11th _

Riley watches the game from Dom’s couch, curled up under a Leafs fleece blanket, wearing one of Dom’s sweatshirts he found in the closet, booing when Edmonton scores late in the second to tie it up, cheering when the Leafs take back the one goal lead on a breakaway by Dom with one minute to go in the third. It’s past eleven when he hears Dom’s keys in the door and he unfolds himself from the sofa when he hears the front door closing. “Hey, great game! Sick goal!”

Dom’s smile lights up the kitchen when he sees Riley standing a few feet away, hair sticking up slightly on the left side where he’d been laying on a pillow. “You’re here!”

“I know!” Riley grins and throws his arms around Dom. “Just don’t tell any of the guys I’m wearing this.” Riley motions to the Leafs sweatshirt. “I’d never hear the end of it.” He says, laughing and laying a kiss on Dom.

“I won’t tell a soul.” Dom answers seriously after pulling back. “You won’t have it on long enough for anyone to know anyway.” He finishes with a wide smile.

“Promise?”

It’s hot and passionate and electric when they come together, Riley holding Dom down with a large palm flat on Dom’s chest as he rides him, thighs straining.

“I missed that _so_ much.” Dom mumbles in to Riley’s ear after Riley’s pulled off and collapsed down in a heap at Dom’s side.

“You missed not having to do much work?” Riley jokes and gives Dom’s chest hair a little playful tug.

Dom rolls his eyes. “Obviously. First star shouldn’t have to do _any_ work.”

~

It’s a short visit, unfortunately, Riley having to take off the following afternoon to get back to prepare for the Bruins upcoming tilt against Detroit, Dom having practice in advance of their Tuesday game in Philly. But Christmas is coming up soon, and that means a few more days they can spend together within the next couple weeks. Dom will come straight to Boston from the Leafs game in New York on the 23rd and he won’t have to fly back to Toronto until the 26th. Maybe it’s not a lot of time, but it’s still time and that’s what matters.

~

_Christmas Break_

Dom gets in late on Saturday night, flying in from New York after his game, grabbing an Uber from Logan out to their place in Charlestown and he finds Riley half-asleep, legs tucked up underneath him, nestled in to the corner of the couch. “Hey, sleepyhead.” Dom sits down and gives Riley’s shoulder a gentle shake.

“Hey!” Riley answers sleepily. It had been a long game against Detroit, going all the way to the shootout, only to lose in the eighth round when Anderson read his deke and completely stoned his shot and by the time Riley got home, he was bushed. “C’mere.” Riley pulls Dom in for a kiss and Dom leans in easily, meeting Riley’s lips and relishing the feel that he’s missed over the last few weeks.

“Bed?” Dom asks quietly, noting the tired look in Riley’s eyes—he sympathizes, he’s beat too.

“Yeah.” Riley accepts Dom’s hands, lets him pull him off the couch and in to a warm hug and they retreat up to the bedroom, curling up under the covers with Dom’s arm thrown over Riley’s waist after sleepy goodnight kisses.

~

The drive to Dummerston, Vermont, up to Elysian Hills Tree farm is just over two hours and Riley’s grateful that the traffic isn’t too bad, even though it’s the day before Christmas. He’s not sure if they can call it tradition, yet, it’s only the second time they’re doing this after all, but, last year they’d come up Vermont to cut down a tree and it seemed only natural to do it again this year.

“I love this.” Dom comments, looking out the window at the snow-covered pines and the ice waterfalls that cover the rocks that line the sides of route 2 up through Orange, Erving, and Northfield. They pull on to 91 in Bernardston and follow the highway north up in to Brattleboro for about fifteen minutes before exiting and turning on to Black Mountain Road. It’s a long fairly narrow road that starts off with more modern two-story homes but eventually gives way to the older rambling farm houses of rural Vermont interspersed between long stretches of forest. “I could live here.” Dom points at a fading yellow farm house with a white wrap-around porch that has puffs of white smoke emanating from the chimney.

“That would be nice.” Riley agrees, imagining years in the future, retired, with a couple of golden labs running through the snow in the back yard, chasing snowballs Dom throws from the safety of the porch. He shakes his head, breaking the daydream when the GPS informs them that the farm is coming up on the right. Riley puts on his blinker, even though they’re the only car he’s seen for miles, and pulls off the road on to another long winding dirt driveway that leads to the farm.

Riley rummages around in the back of his SUV, producing two knit hats, two pairs of gloves, and matching thick crocheted scarves. “My mom says, ‘Merry Christmas’.” Riley pinks up a little as he hands one set of everything over to Dom. “I told her she didn’t have to, but…” Riley shrugs, a little embarrassed.

“No, they’re great!” Dom’s smile shines as he pulls on the hat and wraps the long scarf around his neck a few times. “Ready?” Dom rubs his hands together after he’s put on the gloves and steps out of the SUV. “Toasty!”

They make a quick stop at the shop that’s decked out in fresh garland and wreathes—all for sale—speaking to the woman behind the counter and getting the loaned saw they’ll use when they find the perfect tree, promising to stop back for hot apple cider and hot chocolate when they’re done.

The snow crunches under their boots as they wander up and down the unending aisles of almost identical Christmas trees, this one a little too tall, this one a little too wide, and they chat idly while they keep looking for just the right tree. It takes almost 45 minutes of walking hand in hand poking around until they both stop at the same time and say, “that’s it!”

It’s perfect. Just the right height, just the right fullness, not to tall, not too short, even branches all the way around coming to a tapered point, right at the top where they’ll set the gold star they bought for Christmas last year. Riley hands the saw to Dom and watches as Dom kneels down in the snow and ducks under the tree. “Hold the top steady.” Riley hears, muffled, from under the tree and a few moments later, the sawing stops and Dom crawls out from under the tree brushing bits of snow from the knees of his jeans. “Give it a little rock.”

There’s a small cracking noise as the very last bits of the trunk snaps away and Riley handles the top half while Dom grabs the sawed end and they take off, crunching back through the snow to Riley’s SUV. Dom handles tying the tree down, Riley stands back rubbing his hands together and holding them to his face to warm up his cheeks while appreciating the view. Each time Dom reaches up over the tree to grab the loose end of the rope, his jacket rides up a little and Riley catches little glimpses of skin and the red line of Dom’s briefs’ waistband. He bets Dom’s skin is nice and warm.

Dom startles a little when he turns around to let Riley know the tree’s secure, Riley’s standing close behind him. Riley places his hands on either side of Dom’s shoulders, leaning in, pushing Dom gently back in to the door of the SUV and Riley kisses him, soft and tender. “Thanks…” Riley rubs his nose against Dom’s and gives another quick peck on the lips before pulling back.

Dom grabs Riley’s hand and squeezes. “Let’s get something warm to drink.”

~

Dom decides on a glass of hot apple cider, complete with a cinnamon stick for stirring after returning the saw to the woman at the register; Riley chooses the hot chocolate instead, smiling and asking for extra marshmallows—it is the holidays after all, plus, if he knows one thing for sure, it’s that Dom’s going to steal at least one of the puffy delights and Riley doesn’t want to get gypped when he’s indulging.

Riley’s taking a sip from his hot chocolate when he notices Dom’s got his phone up and he’s snapping a picture. “What are you doing?” Riley asks, wiping the hot chocolate mustache off his face with his napkin.

“Just, you know.” Dom shrugs, turning the phone so Riley can see the picture. “I want to remember this.” Dom takes in Riley’s winter pink cheeks, the way his hat is sitting back on his head, just showing the edges of his ginger hair peeking out from underneath. Dom reaches across the small table, threads his fingers between Riley’s. “I love you.”

Riley bites his lip, he’ll never get tired of hearing Dom say those words. “Love you too.” The soft moment breaks when Riley bats at Dom’s hand, Dom reaching over to steal a marshmallow out of Riley’s hot chocolate. “You distracted me!”

Dom grins around the marshmallow.

~

They set the tree up that night, Christmas eve, Dom futzing with the tree stand until Riley claims the tree is ‘perfectly straight’. Before long, the tall evergreen is twinkling with tiny colored lights and they’re shining off the silvery strands of tinsel that drape over all the branches and off the red, green, and gold ornaments dangling from their thin hooks.

Dom’s hand is warm and steadying on Riley’s waist when Riley climbs the low step stool and leans in to clip the star right on the tapered point. “Hey!” Riley feels Dom’s fingers sliding under the hem of his sweater after the stars’ in place, reaching to hold on to the curved metal handle on the stool, Dom’s touch not so much startling him as it was unexpected.

“Can’t help myself,” Dom says with a soft smile, withdrawing his hand as Riley steps back down on to the living room carpet. “I don’t get to touch you as much as I want anymore.” Dom shrugs.

“I know.” Riley understands, these few days, here and there with Dom are great—but they’re not enough, it’s never going to be enough unless they’re back together again without the miles separating them. Riley’s hand comes up and he weaves his fingers through Dom’s hair, pushing the thinning strands back and curling them over Dom’s ear. “I’m glad you’re here for Christmas though—I’m not sure I could have dealt with the holiday if you couldn’t come.”

“Me either.” Dom admits before pulling Riley in for a chaste kiss. “I’ve been thinking though…” Dom trails off for a moment, taking Riley’s hand and pulling him over to the couch where they settle in to the plush seat cushions.

“About what?” Riley asks.

“This—us.” Dom waves his hand around implying the tree, the presents, the house, their life, everything. “I love playing, Riley—I really do, but…I’m thirty-seven, I’m only signed for this year and Toronto’s probably not going to resign me either at the end of this season.” Dom pauses, “I…I don’t think I’d resign even if they did offer.”

“In Toronto? Or anywhere?” Riley questions quietly, reaching and drawing Dom’s hand in to his own, rubbing his thumb gently along the join of Dom’s thumb and forefinger.

“Anywhere.” Dom answers after a moment. “I’ve played for so many teams, all over, I just—I just don’t want to bounce from team to team for one year at a time until no one offers me anything anymore. I think it’s time, at the end of this season.”

“You’ve thought a lot about it, huh.” Riley states—it’s not really something they’ve ever discussed, but then again, it doesn’t come as that big of a surprise to Riley either. Dom’s been happy in Toronto, but Riley’s noticed that it isn’t a full happiness, Dom doesn’t seem settled or content, not wholly at least.

Dom nods. “Yeah—I think I kind of knew when Boston didn’t resign me to be honest, but I wanted just a little bit more, one more year—but yeah.”

“Are you…” Riley starts, he shouldn’t be hesitant to ask, not with how their relationship is going, but, “are you going to come back here? To stay?” A small part of Riley is worried Dom will decide to stay in Toronto after he retires—it is his hometown, or close enough after all.

“Of course!” Dom answers emphatically, like there was really no other alternative. “Toronto might be where I’m from, but like I said, my home is here, with you.” Dom explains, “that is if you want.” Dom adds, a little hesitantly.

Riley’s answer comes in the form of a tight hug, his arms wrapping around Dom and pulling him in as close as he can. “Yes, of course that’s what I want.”

~

Dom is like a kid on Christmas, awake at five-thirty, poking and pestering Riley until Riley rolls over sleepily and cracks an eye and groans. “What time is it?”

“Five-thirty.” Dom says excitedly. “It’s Christmas!”

Riley groans again and tries to pull his pillow over his head. “Wake me up at seven.” He grumbles, muffled.

“Nope!” Dom pushes on Riley’s shoulder, rolls him on to his back and yanks the pillow away from Riley’s tight grip. “Stockings!” Dom pulls the covers off of Riley as he crawls off the bed, leaving Riley laying there in his sleep pants and tee staring at Dom’s retreating back as Dom leaves the bedroom and starts heading down to the living room.

“Just because you’re old doesn’t mean you have to get up at the crack of dawn.” Riley calls out, but he stretches anyway and drags himself out of bed and pads down the stairs after Dom.

Dom’s already in the living room, his stocking in his left hand, holding Riley’s out with his right.

“Can I at least have a cup of coffee first?” Riley pleads as Dom plops down on the couch and starts pulling a bag of peppermint patties out of the stocking.

“After!” Dom laughs. “Plus, if we wait for that old thing, it’ll be dinnertime before it’s done brewing the pot.”

They go through their stockings, taking turns extracting small trinkets and little remembrances, a roll of stick tape for Riley, some new soft blade guards for Dom, among other things and before long, the couch is littered and Dom’s springing up and depositing a somewhat heavy rectangular package in to Riley’s lap.

“Presents? Now?” Riley questions—he really, really wants a cup of coffee.

“Just this one, ok? Then breakfast.” Dom says, “wait, and this one!” Dom drops a second present, a smaller, lighter rectangular box in Riley lap. “Big one first though.” He adds with a grin.

Riley slides his finger under the tape at the top of the big package, folds the triangle of wrapping paper back before separating the seam that runs down the front of the long box.

“Oh my god, just rip the paper! We’ll buy more next year!” Dom urges Riley on fondly—it drives him nuts that Riley opens all his presents this way, end first, then the seam, carefully pulling the paper back, trying to preserve it. Dom likes to rip in to his presents with wild abandon.

“How did you—thank you! But, Dom—how?” Riley holds the Keurig up curiously looking between it and Dom. “Where did you even put this in your luggage?”

Dom laughs. “Gear bag.” He points to the now empty bag sitting near the front door. “Patty took my actual gear back to Toronto. I filled my bag with your presents. Snuck it all in here without you knowing a thing.” Dom sounds incredibly proud of himself.

Riley nods, it was a good plan, he hadn’t suspected a thing. And honestly, he had been wondering how all of these presents got under the tree—he’d expected a few smaller things from Dom, things that could be packed in an overnight bag and truthfully, he hadn’t even batted an eye at the gear bag—which, in retrospect he probably should have. It’s not like Dom would have needed it for the long weekend.

“Open the other one!”

Riley doesn’t need to open it now to know what it is, it’s obviously k-cups for his new coffee maker, but naturally, he opens it anyway seeing as he can’t use them without unwrapping the gift.

Dom makes them breakfast while Riley holds his steaming cup of coffee like it’s a lifeline. “Ugh, that’s so good.” Riley takes another sip of the bold, dark drink, breathing in the aroma as it wafts from his cup. Dom had gotten him Starbucks French Roast which was a long way from the Folgers Riley usually bought himself. His old coffee maker was such a disaster it would have been a shame to buy anything actually decent to put in it—but now he can splurge and indulge himself over and over.

By the time breakfast is ready—bacon, eggs, and pancakes—Riley’s finishing up his second cup and Dom chastises him, telling him he doesn’t really have to drink it all in one day. “But it’s so _easy_.” Riley comments as he pops another cup in to the Keurig and pushes the button.

~

They clean up breakfast together, Riley washing the dishes, no need to use the dishwasher, there’s only a few, Dom standing by his side toweling off the wet plates as Riley hands them over. Dom looks like he’s close to dropping a couple, bouncing from foot to foot, antsy as he waits for Riley to finish the last fork. “Hurry! Presents!”

Riley laughs fondly, purposefully taking his time wiping the suds out of the sink, wiping down the counter, making a fourth cup of coffee.

“I’m starting without you.” Dom claims, finally giving up after snapping the dishtowel at Riley and disappearing in to the living room.

Riley hears the rustle of paper and the quiet clink of ornaments as they jiggle on the tree. “No shaking the presents!” He calls out, tossing the sponge in to its little holder and rinsing off his hands quickly. “Ok, ok.” Riley joins Dom on the floor, next to the tree and slides a package out from underneath and hands it over to Dom.

Back and forth, Dom then Riley, they exchange gifts, Riley with his neat stack of folded wrapping paper next to him, Dom with his pile of ripped up, wadded up, mangled paper until there’s nothing left and they’re both smiling ear to ear with happiness. “C’mon, try it on!” Riley urges, picking up the storm grey fisherman’s sweater he’d gotten for Dom from L.L. Bean—he picked it because he thought the color would really bring out Dom’s eyes.

“Ooh…” Riley makes an appreciative noise when Dom pulls the sweater over his tee. It does bring out his eyes, and the sweater is thick and chunky but still shows off Dom’s shoulders and Riley stands, smoothing down Dom’s hair before telling him how hot he looks.

“Hot?” Dom asks, grinning.

“The hottest.” Riley answers, leaning in and placing a kiss on the side of Dom’s mouth. “Now, take it off.” Riley speaks low in Dom’s ear, his tone suggestive as he slides his hands under the sweater and tee and runs his fingers up Dom’s back. “I want my last present.”

Dom chuckles quietly as he’s pulling the sweater back off over his head. He folds it carefully and puts down with the rest of his presents before threading his fingers in to Riley’s and guiding him back up to the bedroom.

~

_January 9 th – 11th_

While they don’t get to spend New Years together, Dom’s in Vegas for the 31st then Tampa on the 2nd, and Riley’s in Ottawa on the 30th and New York on the 2nd, there’s a break in the Bruins schedule the second week of January. Riley’s able to take off to Toronto for a few days, Dom had a couple of home games and Riley gets in on the 9th while Dom is at practice.

“I DVR’d the countdown.” Dom tells Riley later that night after dinner when they’re hanging out in the living room flipping through the channels. “You know, since we couldn’t celebrate together.” Dom shrugs, looking a little self-conscious because now that he thinks about it, that’s kind of a cheesy thing to do. “We don’t have to…”

Riley lets out a short laugh and leaves Dom on the couch looking a little confused when Riley gets up and goes digging through his luggage. He extracts two pairs of 2018 glasses, one of which he tosses at Dom along with one of those small party noisemakers. “I hoped you did—I had a blast last year.”

“So, I guess it’s not weird I got a bottle of champagne too.” Dom tells Riley, “should we wait till midnight though? Or celebrate now?”

Riley thinks about it for a moment—Dom’s got a game tomorrow and had practice today, so he might be kind of tired, so Riley shrugs, “either way is fine—you choose.”

Dom checks the clock, it’s quarter past eight, and his game isn’t until tomorrow evening. “Midnight, I think. Let’s make it as close to the real thing as we can.”

Riley nods, agreeing. It’s the little things like this, Dom DVR’ing the countdown, celebrating New Years a few days late, complete with champagne, that makes him really fond of Dom and makes him feel warm inside. “You want to watch a movie till then?”

Dom shakes his head slowly, turning to face Riley on the couch, raising himself a little bit so he can lean in close. “I can think of better things to do to kill a few hours…” Dom trails off, pressing Riley back in to the corner of the couch, covering Riley’s mouth with his own and kissing him thoroughly until Riley’s cheeks are pink and his lips are red and puffy.

“Yeah—yeah, we can do that…” Riley breathes out, hands reaching to help Dom out of his shirt as Dom’s doing the same to Riley. Their arms get tangled, bumping in to each other as they laugh and realize that it’s probably easier for them both to take care of their own shirts.  

“Where were we?” Dom mumbles against the corner of Riley’s mouth once they’re both bare chested and Riley’s fingers are raking through the salt and pepper hair that covers Dom’s chest. “Oh right, I was about to…” Dom slides off the couch from where he’s sitting, grabs a throw pillow on the way and tosses it down on the floor before he settles himself on his knees between Riley’s legs. Dom’s hands find their way to Riley’s fly, popping the button and lowering the zipper until Riley’s wiggling his hips as Dom’s fingers hook on to the waistband of Riley’s pants and he helps to slide them off, along with Riley’s boxers.

Dom lays a gentle kiss on the inside of Riley’s knee, mouths his way up the inside of Riley’s thighs until Riley’s balls are resting alongside Dom’s cheek and Dom’s purposefully ignoring them, choosing instead to continue kissing his way up until he’s swirling his tongue along the hollow of Riley’s hipbone. Dom’s making pleasant, pleased noises as his lips brush along Riley’s skin, humming contentedly as he’s tickling at Riley’s abdomen with the tip of his tongue.

“Dom…” Riley sighs out his name as Dom looks up from where he’s kneeling.

“Love you, Riles.” Dom says before sinking down lower on his knees and covering the head of Riley’s cock with his mouth.

Riley’s head tips back against the lip of the couch and enjoys the ride as Dom takes his time, curling his tongue along Riley’s shaft, easing the tip of his tongue along the slit, and gently sucking at the head until Riley’s toes are curling and he’s digging his fingers in to the plush couch cushions as Dom swallows around Riley’s cock.

Riley returns the favor, once he’s cleared his head of the post-orgasmic cotton that feels like it’s stuffed ear to ear, changing places with Dom, sliding down and giving Dom the same attention Dom had laid on him a few moments prior.

~

They ring in the new year at the stroke of midnight, on January 10th, and it might be a few days late, but it doesn’t matter because they’re celebrating it together.

~

Dom loathes that Riley has to leave the following day, on the eleventh, Riley’s got a game in Montreal in a few days and he needs to be back in Boston for practice. Each time Riley leaves, or he leaves, it gets harder and harder to say goodbye, even though they both know it’ll only be a few weeks before they can synch up their schedules again.

It’s not going great in Toronto for Dom, he’s been inconsistent, streaky, and more and more he’s finding himself on the receiving end of a healthy scratch, Babcock playing younger and more reliable guys instead of him. He no longer really questions his decision to retire at the end of the season, although he hasn't publicly made any announcement yet—Riley’s the only one who knows. Dom’s waiting to see how things go in Toronto, if they’ll make the playoffs, make a deep run and what-not. He’s been to the ECF twice and he’d love to raise the cup once in his career, but at this rate, he figures he’ll just be a scratch anyway, so he doesn’t really hold his breath.

Dom spends a lot of time thinking: thinking about retirement, thinking about the end of his long career, but mostly, thinking about his future. More specifically, his future with Riley.

~

_Late January_

They’re able to find time to get together near the end of January, both of them having a decent stretch without games, and Dom flies down to Boston, this time for three days before heading back to Toronto to face the Islanders.

It snows for the majority of Dom’s visit so they spend a lot of time cuddled up on the couch or being lazy in bed, buried under the blankets, taking turns answering the door when the take-out comes but like always, their time together is over much too soon for either one’s liking and it’s when Riley’s driving Dom back to Logan that Dom brings it up.

“Have you ever—” Dom stops and taps his fingers on the dark upholstery below the car window, “I mean—do you ever think about the future?”

Riley shrugs, he knows he’s a UFA next year so yeah, he thinks about the future, his future—will it be with the Bruins? Somewhere else? He thinks he’s been playing ok so he’s hopeful he can get another year or two here before he’s shipped off to somewhere else to play. He explains his thoughts to Dom and halfway through Riley realizes that Dom might not have been talking about his _hockey_ future. “Oh…”

“I guess I’m asking if you think about us long-term? I know it’s only been a year and half, give or take a little, but,” Dom comments, “I’m coming back to Boston after this season’s over and…”

“Yeah—yeah, I do.” Riley interjects. “No matter where I end up after this year—Boston hopefully—I kind of picture you being there too?”

“Yeah, me too.” Dom admits, realizing that Riley’s pulling up to the drop-off lane in Terminal B so it cuts the conversation short, but that’s ok, Dom’s not ready to pull the trigger on anything—yet—he really just wanted to feel out where Riley’s head was at. He assumed it was as much in the same place as his own, but, Dom figures, it never hurts to make sure. He leans over the gear shift, kisses Riley sweetly and waves as he backs out of the car and disappears through the revolving door in to the airport.

Riley chews his lip for a few moments, thinking over Dom’s question again, realizing what Dom might be gearing up to and he gets these little butterflies, little flutters in his stomach and he blushes even though he’s alone, at his overly sappy reaction to the prospect that Dom might have been, possibly could be, potentially was feeling out Riley’s reaction to a permanent future together.

~

_February_

Even though it’s the shortest month, it looks like it’s going to be the busiest for Riley and Dom, both having thirteen and fourteen games, respectively, within the twenty-eight days. Fortunately, two of those games are against each other, and on the first weekend in February, they’re able to at least spend the night together when the Leafs fly straight to Boston from their game in New York that Thursday night. Dom spends that night at the team hotel though—they’ve gotten in too late, plus, there’s practice first thing in the morning, so Dom waits until after that to make his way to Charlestown.

Riley’s practice is in the early afternoon so he’s gone by the time Dom shows up, so Dom takes the opportunity to take a nap while Riley’s out.

Dom flies out to Anaheim with the team on Saturday night, only having time for a quick goodbye directly after the game, but it’s ok, Riley will be in Toronto in three weeks, and they’ll skype and talk in between.

~

Dom’s antsy, waiting for the game to finish on February 14th so he can get showered and get back home to skype with Riley. They’re down 4 – 1 to the Jackets and there’s only a few minutes left in the third anyway when Dom’s mind starts wandering—something he realizes is happening more and more often, the closer the end of the season looms. It’ll be late, but Riley doesn’t have a game that night, so he’d mentioned to Dom that he was going to take a nap to be fresh for when they talk and Dom’s looking forward to it—even though it isn’t Valentine’s in person, it’s Valentine’s with Riley and that’s pretty awesome.

The horn sounds signaling the end of the game, and another loss, and Dom takes off down the tunnel along with all the other guys, and he nearly stumbles when he rounds the corner to the locker room and sees Riley leaning casually against the wall next to the door.

“Hey—” Riley smiles, eyes gleaming with laughter at Dom’s surprised expression, and he waves over Dom’s shoulder to a few of the guys as they file in to the locker room.

“What are you—” Dom starts, shaking his head at the unexpected appearance. “I thought you were—”

“In Boston?” Riley finishes Dom’s question. “I was, but now I’m here.” Riley says like it explains everything. “Next game isn’t till Saturday, in Vancouver, so I figured…”

“Wait here—I’ll be—yeah, gimme like ten minutes.” Dom leans down and gives Riley a quick kiss, his skates giving him the height advantage for once.

Riley chuckles. “Take your time, take a shower.” He pinches his nose and waves his hand in Dom’s direction. “I’ll wait.”

Dom shakes his head and rolls his eyes but he knows Riley’s just having a bit of fun—they’re both hockey players—they both know he stinks. “Ok—fifteen minutes—”

~

“When did you get in?” Dom inquires as he’s pulling out of the arena parking lot and heading towards his Toronto place.

“About half-way through the game.” Riley tells him, “I already dropped my stuff at your place and took a cab over afterwards. I hope you don’t mind—” Riley adds after a minute.

“Mind? Why would I mind?” Dom asks incredulously. “My boyfriend shows up to surprise me on Valentine’s Day, who would mind that?”

Riley shrugs and laughs. “I guess you’re right—I didn’t even think about it, I just did it—spur of the moment this morning, bought the ticket—”

“So you already knew you were coming when we talked earlier?” Dom refers back to their conversation earlier in the day, before his pre-game nap. “You…sneak!”

~

It’s that action, that spur of the moment surprise visit on Valentine’s Day from Riley that really cements in Dom’s mind that yeah, he wants this _forever_.

It takes a couple of days of thinking, then another few days of doing, mapping things out, scratching out everything he’s written, balling up the pieces of paper numerous times, then redoing everything and finally making a couple calls before Dom’s plan is firmly in place. Now, all he has to do is wait.

~

“I thought maybe I could stay with you at the hotel tonight?” Dom comments as he and Riley are talking before the Bruins take off for Toronto on the 23rd; they’re flying in the day before the game, getting in sometime around dinnertime.

“Not at your place?” Riley questions, he doesn’t mind, he just figured they’d go back to Dom’s like they’ve done in the past.

“Thought I might say hi to the boys—maybe grab dinner with all of you at the hotel or somewhere. It’s been a while.” Dom explains—the last few times they’ve played each other it’s really just been quick hellos to his old teammates before he and Riley disappeared until one of the had to go back home. “We’ll have dinner, spend the night in some hotel room, do the crossword in the morning—just like old times. Sound good?”

“Yeah—sounds like fun.” Riley agrees—it will be fun, Dom with the boys again, sleeping in the hotel together like they used to on the road last year, doing the crossword in the morning over room service. “See you tonight.”

~

It’s a great time, dinner with Dom and the boys, and after a filling dinner and a couple of beers, the guys all swing by the front desk and pick up their keys and start filtering up to their rooms to where the staff has already dropped their bags.

“A double?” Riley looks at the two full sized beds and checks the room number again, regardless that his key just opened the door.

Dom chuckles. “Just like old times, eh? I’ll take the left.” He adds, tossing his overnight bag at the foot of the bed. “And I’ll stick to one side so you can sneak in like you used to.”

“Sneak—you invited me.” Riley throws back, feigning offence at Dom’s words.

“I have a better idea.” Dom wiggles his eyebrows. “We can debauch one bed and just sleep in the other.”

“You say that like you were really expecting us to sleep in separate beds.” Riley shakes his head.

They end up debauching both beds anyway, pretty much because they can, and because after they’re able to get together one more time in March, their schedules are too full to even contemplate the next time they can visit.

~

A knock on the hotel door followed by low voices is what wakes Riley up at seven on Saturday morning and he hears Dom thanking the concierge and the noise of a slightly squeaky wheel when Dom rolls the breakfast room service cart in from the hallway.

“Rise and shine, Riles.” Dom’s scratching his chest through his t-shirt and his hair’s sticking up a bit when Riley finally cracks an eye and looks down towards the foot of the bed. Riley pulls himself up to sitting, arranging his pillow behind his back so his spine isn’t digging in to the wooden headboard and he watches as Dom uncovers their respective breakfasts.

“Bed or table?” Dom asks Riley, holding a plate in each hand waiting for an answer.

“Table, I guess.” Riley shrugs and crawls out of bed, pulling on his discarded t-shirt before sitting down and pouring himself a cup of coffee. “The Star here yet?”

“Yep! Two copies.” Dom answers, holding a copy of the Toronto newspaper out for Riley to grab.

Riley opens his paper, folds the entertainment section over to the back so he can lay the crossword puzzle down on the table, off to the side of his food. “That’s an unusual setup.” He comments, looking at how the puzzle isn’t square like he’s used to—it really looks more like a haphazard jumble of empty boxes where very few of the words have more than two intersecting letters.

Dom nods. “Yeah—unusual.” He picks up his fork and digs in to his omelet leaving Riley to start on his crossword.

Riley pokes at his breakfast, spending more time sipping his coffee as he’s waking up, reading through the clues and starting to fill the boxes in one by one. “Huh.” Riley makes a small noise at one of the clues.

“Huh?” Dom looks up from his plate. “Huh, what?”

“These clues—” Riley starts, looking over the list of clues again.

“What about them?” Dom asks a little skeptically.

“They’re…ok, this is going to sound weird, but it’s like,” Riley pauses for a second, filling in 21 Down: Clifford, the _ _ dog with ‘Bigred’, “it’s like these clues and answers are about me?”

Dom raises his eyebrows. “What?”

“Like this—” Riley points to ‘Bigred’, ‘Twenty’, ‘Puck’, and ‘Stick’.

“The puzzle’s called ‘Hockey and Things’.” Dom reasons. “Puck and stick are hockey.”

Riley shakes his head. “Well, yeah, but ‘Bigred’ was my nickname in college. ‘Twenty’ is my number.”

Dom looks like he’s thinking for a moment but finally answers, “coincidence. Probably.”

Riley looks long at Dom as Dom goes back to eating his breakfast.

A few more minutes goes by and Riley puts down his pencil and speaks again. “Ok, really. ‘Bruin’? ‘Cornell’? ‘Silverback?’”

Dom finishes his bite of toast and swallows. “Yeah? Hockey, thing, and thing?”

Riley looks cynical. “Dom—I played with the Salmon Arm Silverbacks in the BCHL. I _went_ to Cornell. I’m a _Bruin_.”

“Ok?” Dom says, “but isn’t that a little odd though? All those clues about you? How would that even be possible?”

Riley scratches his head, mystified. “I…I don’t know, but…”

“Eh, just finish the puzzle.” Dom comments, looking over at Riley’s progress. “Not much left to go anyway.” Dom finishes his last bite and puts his plate back on the room service cart as he makes his way to his overnight bag and starts rummaging. He keeps an eye on Riley who’s continuing to give the crossword very disbelieving looks each time he fills in an answer. Dom pulls something out of his bag and stuffs it in to the pocket of his sleep pants before returning to the table. “How’s it going?”

“I just—I—” Riley starts and stops. “’Pencil’? ‘Aquarium’? ‘Harvard’? ‘Economics’? Dom—these clues are about _us_.”

“Really?” Dom looks surprised and fiddles with the thing he’s stuffed in his pocket. “What makes you say that?”

Riley gapes, even Dom can’t be that clueless here. “You went to Harvard. You studied economics. We had our first kiss at the aquarium, for heavens sake. This is just—this is just—I can’t—”

“Wow. Weird, huh?” Dom pulls his hand out of his pants pocket, fingers wrapped in a fist around something. “Only a few left, yeah?”

Riley gives Dom a odd look; Dom’s acting peculiar, evasive even, and Riley notes Dom hasn’t even started his crossword puzzle. “Are you going to…” Riley points to the newspaper that’s still on the sports section next to Dom’s place at the table.

“Oh, yeah, I will—” Dom picks up his pen and busies himself with trying to look interested in the puzzle while keeping one eye on Riley. “17 Down?”

Riley checks his puzzle and gives Dom another strange look. The clue isn’t hard at all, 5 letters, ‘to wed’. “Marry?” Riley answers. “You feeling ok, Dom? That was easy.”

“Oh—yeah, wow, brain cramp, right?” Dom fills in the word and he’s silent for a few more moments. “15 Across?”

Riley scans his puzzle. “Me?”

“Oh my god, honestly. What’s wrong with me this morning?” Dom chews on the end of his pen and fills in the two-letter answer to the clue ‘I’.

It’s quiet for another moment before Dom hears Riley take in a long breath, just short of a gasp. As he’s exhaling Dom’s pretty sure he hears Riley muttering ‘holy shit’.

“Are you—oh my—Dom?” Riley’s holding the crossword puzzle up pointing to 23 Across: B.B. King’s First Name.

Dom fills in the answer on his crossword, only three words are filled in: 17 Down, 15 Across, and 23 Across. He hands the paper over to Riley and slides out of his chair and gets down on one knee, opening his closed fist. “Riley?”

Riley reads the puzzle answers, flicks his eyes to his own puzzle—how did he not catch all this—and swallows as a big smile breaks across his face.

“Marry me, Riley?”

“Oh, yes, Dom!” Riley laughs and he’s happy, so elated and so baffled as to how Dom pulled off getting a proposal in to the Toronto Star daily crossword puzzle of all places. But it really doesn’t matter how (Dom later tells him the editor is a cousin of one of the Leafs), because his answer is the same regardless of the method of Dom’s proposal. “Yes!”

~

_Epilogue_

The sun’s already down, it sets so early in December, close to four, and the big flood lamps Dom’s put up throw their glow far out in to the back yard, illuminating the fresh garland strung around the rungs of the porch and making the falling snow look like little buttery-colored pinpoints of dancing light. They’ve lived up here, up on Black Mountain Road in the fading yellow farmhouse just a few miles from where they’d bought their very first Christmas tree, for almost a year now after finally leaving the hustle and bustle of the city.

“Tucker! Bandit!” Dom calls out from the back porch, catching the two golden labs attention as they turn and send plumes of fresh snow in to the air as they come crashing back through the yard barking. “Catch!” Dom tosses two snowballs, one after the other, ones he’s made from scooping the snow off of the railing of the white wrap around porch. Tucker and Bandit go careening at top speed after their prize as Dom laughs.

“Tiring them out?” Riley asks, hooking his chin over Dom’s shoulder and wrapping his arms around Dom’s waist from behind. “Aren’t you cold?” Dom’s jacket is inside on the hook, he’s got on a thick, chunky forest green fisherman’s sweater and it contrasts well against the silver streaks in Dom’s hair.

“No,” Dom answers, leaning back in to Riley’s chest, “the sweater’s real warm and cozy. Thanks again.” Dom turns his head to catch Riley’s lips quickly before Tucker and Bandit come bounding up the porch steps, bits of snow flying as they shake out their coats excitedly. “I’ll get the towels.” Riley runs interference on the two dogs while Dom disappears in to the kitchen, returning a few moments later with two well-used looking towels. “Smells great in there.” He comments as he hands a towel to Riley and they dry off Tucker and Bandit, making sure to clean any little built up ice chunks out of the fur on their paws.

“Dinner’s almost ready, Mom’ll be here soon, your parents called too—they were just getting on to 91.” Riley explains, shooing Tucker and Bandit back in through the open door, jiggling the handle a little, pausing before entering the house.

The house needs a bit of love—ok, maybe a lot of love—but they’re both retired and Dom loves tinkering, and putzing, and fixing and Riley’s more than happy to help or to sit back and watch as Dom gets in to home-improvement mode. They’ve busied themselves over the last year with various projects, refinishing the hardwood floors, hanging new cabinets, and repainting the dining room; making sure at least the inside of the house is up to snuff for hosting Christmas, and once spring comes, the outside is the priority.

“I’m glad we bought this place.” Riley takes in the paint peeling on the side of the house, the missing rung of the porch, the way the corner of the porch roof sags just a tiny bit under the weight of the freshly fallen snow.

“Me too.” Dom agrees, smiling as he pulls Riley in for one more soft kiss. “Merry Christmas.”

 


End file.
